"Should I actually scream or no? Because I can do a pretty good silent scream."

JJ flashed a brilliant smile, his teeth all the more white against his dark skin. What was with these football players and having great teeth? Although, I guess spending their hard-earned NIL money on dental hygiene was never a bad thing. Me and my slightly crooked two front teeth were perhaps a little jealous.

I chuckled as I fiddled around with some of my camera settings. "We're in a fairly enclosed space, so if you can pull off the silent scream, I think we'd all appreciate it."

Mara and I had tapped a few of the other underclassmen from the media department to help set up the small studio down the hall so we could shoot a variety of fully-uniformed action and vanity shots for most of the anticipated starters, including players that were on the preseason top 100 list, or were on the preseason watchlist for the litany of awards that went out to various positions and players at the end of the season. Depending on the player, most of these photos would be used in promotional images, social media posts, and media that went on the newly minted, 7,052 square foot video board at Memorial Stadium. Mara and I had finalized the social media templates we'd be using throughout the season, and these photos were the last piece of content we needed before we ramped it up on social media.

Trying to take individualized pictures of all 85 scholarship players took way more time than we had, and nobody was really interested in seeing the third string running back. We'd made it through most of the players, and I did not have the energy left to keep up with JJ.

"I can dance too," JJ said as he wiggled his hips back and forth, waving around the football he had pinched between his fingers.

"According to who?" I chuckled and shook my head.

JJ pointed the football at me. "I think you're a hater."

"Probably," I shrugged. "Regardless, I need you to stand still for these. Save hitting the dougie or whatever for later."

JJ scoffed incredulously. "The dougie? More like the disrespect. My skills are far more refined than that."

I humored JJ with a smirk and shook my head. "Then since we're not hitting the dougie today, Mara can you go position him for his one-quarter shots please?"

Mara beamed as she scuttled over to JJ at the backdrop, instructing him to shift and turn slightly while I looked through my Nikon's viewfinder.

It was Mara's first time interacting with a lot of the players, and just as Kayla had instructed me when I was in Mara's position, it was now my responsibility to lead Mara along. One of the key things I kept from Kayla was to get to know players earlier so it didn't become awkward shoving cameras in their faces with no niceties, and now was the perfect time for Mara to do that on our own turf.

"Wait, wait, stay right there." I held my hand up. "Don't move."

JJ held his pose with his chin up and his arms crossed over his jersey. "Can I breathe?"

"No. Just slowly turn your head to the right until I say stop."

I knew JJ's diamond stud earrings were real, and I wanted them to catch the light from the corner.

"Brilliant," I muttered, more to myself than JJ, as I took a few shots. JJ was on one of those pre-season awards watchlists, so in a few weeks he'd get his own social media post with one of those pictures, with a graphic of Biletnikoff Award Watchlist written on it - for the best receiver in college football.

But to be the best receiver, you had to have a quarterback willing to get you the ball by any means necessary, and the person that would get him the ball was the next person walking into our little studio.

"Oh, oh," JJ perked up. "Reid will dance with me."

"Uh, no." Reid let out a bored sigh as he took between me and a light stand. I made a mental note to adjust the height on them for Reid's photos.

JJ wheeled around to look at Reid directly. "First of all, I distinctly remember an afterparty at the Esso Club sophomore year, where you popped, locked, and dropped it-"

"That's enough," Reid cut him off, and it would almost be intimidating if the context wasn't so humorous. "Not another word or you're gonna sleep outside tonight."

JJ scoffed and threw his hands out to the side. "Unbelievable. I'm surrounded by haters."

Reid nudged me in the side with his elbow, and a ghost of a smirk worked its way onto his face. "Told you he couldn't keep secrets."

I chuckled and turned my focus down to my camera, flipping through some of the shots of JJ on the display screen. Because of the angle he stood at beside the light, the shadow his body casted practically swallowed me. "That you did."

"Not that I'm trying to be a hater," Mara added, flashing her gigawatt grin. "But playtime's over, JJ. Unless you're intentionally trying to photobomb Reid's photos."

"Trust me, I'd love to," JJ replied with a chuckle. "But don't let the stoic tough guy exterior fool you. I've lived with him for two years, and he can be a relentless prankster when provoked. He'd put Nair in my shaving cream or something, and I like the 'stach I've got going right now."

JJ casually flipped the football to Reid, who plucked it out of the air with a similar effortless ease. While Mara began positioning Reid, I busied myself by readjusting the lights.

When I finally forced my attention back to him, my heart did that stupid running back style stutter-step, some kind of defense mechanism to avoid getting metaphorically tackled by the sight of him.

It wasn't like I hadn't seen Reid in uniform dozens of times, but never so up close. Of course it was made for him in the literal sense, the big white number 1 crisp and clean against the bright orange of the jersey and tight enough to just barely fit over the minimal padding he wore. Media day was the first day a lot of these guys put this season's jerseys on for the first time, and for them, their uniform was like donning armor. But for Reid, it was a little bit more - it was the king returning from war to reclaim his throne.

Despite not having played all of last season, Reid was still Reid, and his previous prowess earned him spots on the preseason watchlists of several awards, including the Davey O'Brien award for most outstanding quarterback, the Maxwell award for best all-around player, and of course, the Heisman, which went to "the most outstanding player in college football." Outstanding being subjective, but it wasn't just about statistical performance on the field - it encompassed the magnitude of character, such as coming back from a devastating injury and performing in the face of adversity.

I thought back to my conversation with Reid at the indoor practice field a few days ago, and as flattering as it was to be considered for so many awards before even taking a snap this season, it just seemed to pile more and more expectations onto him. It was as if someone had placed a massive boulder on his back and then told him to go play a football season without breaking or dropping the boulder. That much weight on someone had to wear them down, and it showed on his face.

"I don't even think you could pull off the no-neck look in your pictures." I lowered my camera with a smirk, hoping to inject a little bit of humor to loosen him up. "Drop your shoulders a little and lift your chin. And then look slightly to the left."

Reid let out a dry chuckle. "Feels like picture day in middle school."

"I mean, it is still picture day," I replied, still smirking.

He sighed and rolled his shoulders a few times, bouncing on his toes the way he had when we were tossing the ball around. "Well, you're a helluva lot nicer to look at than the old dude who used to come to school to take our pictures."

Reid froze the moment he realized what he'd said, and the sound of Mara clapping her hands over her mouth to stifle her shocked laughter felt loud in such an enclosed space.

"I-I just mean...well, you know what I mean." His ears burned crimson as he fumbled through his response.

The disbelief in Reid's Freudian slip directly battled with the lift his comment gave my ego, and in the midst of the internal turmoil, all I could manage to blurt out was, "Well, yeah I'd hope so." 

This time, Mara's shriek of laughter could not be concealed by her hand, and now I was the one turning red. Reid and I traded equally guilty looks, but as the initial awkwardness dissipated, it took the tension with it.

Despite ourselves, maybe it worked. And Reid Donahue was infuriatingly photogenic.

━━━━━━

i know she's a shortie, but first and foremost, jo is a career girlie and showing her in her element is just as important as anything plot-related, even if there is part of me that wants to label this chapter as a "filler." there's no true fillers in my world 🤷🏼‍♀️

ps; protect jj and his dougie at all costs